Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Abortion Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senator Cash urges stronger state action on abortion policy at Roe anniversary
Summary
Senator Cash used a floor statement to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and urged the Senate to adopt stronger protections for unborn children, citing Department of Public Health figures and the rise of mail-order abortion pills as reasons to pursue new state legislation.
Senator Cash (from Anderson) used a floor point of personal interest on Jan. 22 to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and to press the South Carolina Senate to take further action limiting abortion.
"With the overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022, the responsibility and even the duty for protecting human life in the womb resides with us at the state level," Cash said. He characterized current law as insufficient and urged colleagues to pursue a "stronger or more comprehensive law" if they believe life begins at conception.
Cash cited a series of statistics to frame his argument, saying more than 65,000,000 unborn lives have been lost nationwide since the 1973 decision and asserting that thousands of South Carolinians are ordering abortion pills by mail each year. He also said Department of Public Health data show that in 2024 "84 percent of all reported abortions were done using the abortion pills," and argued that many medication abortions are unreported because pills can be taken at home.
The senator referred to past state legislative efforts, saying the 2025 Human Life Protection Act failed in the Senate and that lawmakers instead passed a revised "heartbeat" law in 2023. He told colleagues that a heartbeat law should not be a "resting place" for those who oppose abortion and urged further legislative effort.
Senator Bright, later recognized for a point of personal interest, praised Cash’s longtime work on the issue and urged members to engage fully with the debate, referencing the film Unplanned as suggested context.
The statistics and claims Cash cited were presented on the floor as his factual basis; the Senate did not vote on new abortion legislation during this session. Where Cash gave specific figures (for example, the counts of mail-order pills and the 84 percent figure), the senator attributed those to Department of Public Health reports or to organizations that track pill orders; those numbers are reported here as statements made on the floor and were not independently verified in the session record.
The Senate accepted Cash’s remarks for the journal by unanimous consent and placed them in the record.
